Circa 1948 vs Darkroom Toolkit
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Circa 1948
Explore a historically inspired, film noir-style city from the late 1940s. This immersive art app uses photorealistic 3D illustrations and audio to recreate two distinct Vancouver neighborhoods, offering a glimpse into urban planning and social divisions of the era.
- Extensive historical detail
- Period music and audio
- Film noir influenced conversations
- Historically accurate environments
- Real-time 3D engine
- Touch and gyroscope navigation
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“This trip to the past is a glimpse at the future” - TIME. Enter the shadows of a post-war North American city through this film noir inspired, historically based immersive art app. Requires iPhone 4S/iPad 2 and above. The first Real-time 3D art app to tell a story inspired by real events. An immersive experience created by internationally renowned artist Stan Douglas and the award-winning NFB Digital Studio. Through photorealistic 3D illustrations rendered from Douglas’ extensive historical research, Circa 1948 takes users to the late 1940s, Vancouver, BC, a young city in the midst of urban planning, but divided along lines of race and income. Eavesdrop on long lost conversations in two carefully recreated locations: an Old Hotel in Vancouver’s affluent west side, then squatted by homeless war veterans, or the muddy streets of ethnically diverse Hogan’s Alley in the working class east side, populated by racial minorities, gamblers, prostitutes and corrupt police officers. Produced by the National Film Board of Canada. Features - Extensive historical detail - Period music and audio - 44 film noir influenced conversations - Historically accurate props, architecture and landscapes - Open-source real-time 3D engine - Touch and gyroscope-driven navigation modes Supported Devices - iPhone 4S, 5, 5C and 5S - iPad 2, 3rd and 4th generation iPad, iPad Air, iPad Mini and 2nd generation iPad Mini.
Darkroom Toolkit
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Process film and print in the darkroom, without the math. Darkroom Toolkit is a reference library and set of utilities for film processing and darkroom printing. Browse hundreds of photochemistry formulas, run step-by-step development timers with official manufacturer dev times, and handle common calculations – all in one app. WHY DARKROOM TOOLKIT? • One app instead of separate dev chart, formula, and printing calculator apps • Primary features are free: all darkroom chemistry formulas, official processes, and calculators included • Lifetime Pro unlock for saving favorites, custom workflows, and to support the project FILM DEVELOPING • Pre-configured timers for manufacturer-recommended film + developer combinations • Multi-step processing with optional audio alerts • iOS Live Activity: see your timer on the lock screen • Low light / safelight theme for working in the dark FORMULAS & CHEMISTRY • Extensive darkroom cookbook: developers, toners, lith, alt process, and more • Enter your target volume and every ingredient amount scales automatically • Dilution and solution strength conversion utilities DARKROOM PRINTING • f-Stop printing calculator: exposure sequences and test strip times • Print resizing calculator: new exposure times when changing print size PRO FEATURES (one-time purchase) • Save favorite processes and formulas • Create and edit custom recipes and processing timers • Sync your workflows across devices Whether you're developing your first roll of black and white film, mixing chemistry for cyanotype, or dialing in enlarger exposures, Darkroom Toolkit keeps you consistent. Download free. Upgrade once, yours forever.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: Circa 1948 at none against Darkroom Toolkit's 1. Circa 1948 also leads on device support (3 vs 1) and iOS requirement (8.0 vs 16.4). On price, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Darkroom Toolkit sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Circa 1948 asks for nothing beyond the download.
Both ship on a similar rhythm, roughly fortnightly. The most recent releases landed on October 12, 2026 and October 7, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Circa 1948 | Darkroom Toolkit |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 3.4 (22 ratings) — better | — |
| Positive reviews | 39.5% of reviews | — |
| Number of ratings | 22 — better | — |
| Update frequency | Fortnightly | Fortnightly |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | No — better | Yes |
| Monetization | Paid | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod — better | iPhone |
| Requires iOS | 8.0 — better | 16.4 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 1.9 GB | 59 MB |
| Age rating | 12+ | 4+ |
| Developer | National Film Board of Canada – Office national du film du Canada | Robert House |
Bugs and requests
Circa 1948
Reported bugs
49 issues- Keeps crashing
- Barely works
- It would not load
- Crashed the first time I loaded it
- Stayed on the opening music and screen
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- Got endless loop instead
- Tough to run
- Can’t get the app to load reliably
- Goes into endless loop after introduction
- Hangs on story selection
- Screen turns black too often
- Occasionally crash
- Crash after selecting story lines
- Crash as you’re puttering about
- Crashes so often
- Occasionally crashes
- Crashed in the middle of the 3rd story
- New iPad crashes as soon as I select my story option
- All it does is crash
- Shut down and locked me out
- Crashes sometimes
- App crashes
- Intriguing idea but crashes
- Crashes a lot
- Doesn't work
- Runs sloppy
- Frame-rate suffers badly
- Crashing and glitching every 5 minutes
- No sound in Hogan's Alley
- No way to get instructions back or return to Home screen
- Very laggy
- App only runs inverted
- Takes long time to download
- Won't download
- Choppy, lags a lot
- Graphics are not smooth
- Won't load
- Makes me noxious
- App appears not to be built well
- Crashes every time after selecting location
- Runs kind of choppy
- Still not downloaded
- Still crashes but better
- Floating through walls
- Had to listen to the same conversations a few times
- Crash in the first 30 seconds
- Game would crash when trying to go into neighborhoods
- Can't get past the selection on the map
- Crashes (iPhone 4: IOS 7.1.1)
Requested features
7 requests- Update to fix loading and crashing bugs
- Take advantage of newer device resolutions
- More levels/floors to explore
- Add subtitles
- More content and surrounding communities
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- User options for controls and sensitivity
- PC-based site version
Darkroom Toolkit
Not enough reviews yet to summarise bugs or requests.
In-app purchases
Circa 1948
No in-app purchases
Darkroom Toolkit
- Darkroom Toolkit Pro$9.99
Questions
Is Circa 1948 free?
Is Darkroom Toolkit free?
Do Circa 1948 or Darkroom Toolkit have ads?
Which is updated more often, Circa 1948 or Darkroom Toolkit?
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